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I’ ve grown from all the mistakes and victories I have made along the way – and each experience has molded me into the individual and leader I am today. landscape of our industry – from property owners to management companies to brands to the actual guests. Poor alignment between stakeholders on intended results leads to unsatisfactory outcomes. Success is only possible with adequate planning and through defining clear goals prior to initiating development.
What changes to your job role have you seen in the last year and how do you see these developing in the next 12 months? us, it’ s about continuing to deliver a strong backbone that can facilitate new technologies that are important to our clients along with the support necessary for all the technology that goes into a hotel today.
Our focus is on being that critical infrastructure and technology support partner that makes all the other innovations possible.
How do you deal with stress and unwind outside the office?
We started 2025 off with a pretty strong economy. Hospitality did well the last couple of years and was returning to normal. But all that has been turned upside down. I was recently emailing our ownership about where things were going. I told them I’ ve got lines on my face for every turn of the business cycle over the last 30 years. I have deep grooves for some of them, including 9 / 11, the Great Recession and COVID. I was expecting what we’ re going through now with Tariffs to be just one of those lines. But those lines may be turning into crevices too.
I’ ve been in this business for years and there is always stress. You just learn to live with it – in fact for me, the absence of stress would be a bit stressful. Having said that, I do Pilates and play pickleball to relax. I’ m also about to marry a wonderful woman who is truly my partner and having her in my life makes a huge difference.
If you could go back and change one career decision, what would it be?
So, while I’ ll continue focusing on growing and diversifying the business, I’ m now looking at contingencies if the economy takes a huge hit due to the global tariffs and the geopolitical situation.
What advice would you offer somebody aspiring to obtain a C-level position in your industry? What about others entering the field of hospitality?
I wouldn’ t have done anything radically differently. I’ ve grown from all the mistakes and victories I have made along the way – and each experience has moulded me into the individual and leader I am today.
What do you currently identify as the major areas of investment in your industry?
Broadly, having the appropriate technology stack that yields efficiencies is where I see people are investing. At Cloud5, we’ re focused on our MSP and IT services business because we view the marketplace demand growing exponentially, so we’ re investing time and dollars for organic development and M & A in that area.
Everyone says to do something you like, but I think you also need to do something you can be good at. Your attributes, strengths and skill sets need to be put into a field where you can excel. I believe being inquisitive, curious and willing to learn is important. You also need to be good at dealing with and managing people.
Knowledge of both the tech side and hospitality is a benefit for those going into this industry specifically. Our business sits at the crossroads of guest experience and technology infrastructure, so being able to speak both languages will set you apart. p
What are the industry-specific challenges when implementing new technologies in hospitality?
A clear definition of what‘ problem’ is being solved for is very important due to the complex stakeholder
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